History shows that it pays not to get too carried away with Ruakaka form, especially that of horses trained on it's unique sandy surface. But the nature of back to back wins there from the Logan trained three-year-old filly Candle In The Wind (Darci Brahma - Prefer Blondes by Gentlemen), especially her latest performance on 29 June, point to her being far from one dimensional.
One could not fail to have been impressed by her maiden win there on 12 June when despite racing wide without cover she surged away over the closing stages of the 1200m event to win by two and a half lengths.
At her next start over 1400m, she again had an excuse to start feeling the pinch over the concluding stages, racing wide and then hanging down the straight, yet she powered away late for a three length win.
She is yet another promising type by her sire whose record has gone to a new level this season thanks largely to Nashville and Recite who have confirmed Darci Brahma’s ability to leave a genuine top level performer. Both have the scope to go on and with the likes of the unbeaten pair Cauthen and All Decked Out, his service fee increase to $40,000 will be looking a lot more palatable for breeders.
Candle In The Wind has an interesting female pedigree and one that highlights the global nature of today's bloodstock industry.
Prefer Blondes, the American bred dam of Candle In The Wind, is a placed daughter of Gentleman, an Argentinian bred grandson of Nureyev, who was Champion three-year-colt in his native country before an American campaign which saw him win three important grade 1 middle distance races.
Let's Sgor, the dam of Prefer Blondes, was joint 1990-91Wrightson Filly of the Year with Plume on the back of wins in the Group 1 N.Z Oaks and Group 1 ARC Championship. Sold to America at the conclusion of her three-year-old season, she was twice stakesplaced from her new digs before embarking on a broodmare career which has seen her leave an American stakeswinner by Clever Trick and a stakesplaced daughter of Irish River who in turn has left a dual stakesplaced filly by Galileo.
Those of you old enough to remember Let's Sgor will recall a lengthy, powerful girl who threw more on type to her maternal sire the great Oncidium, than her sire, the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes winner Creag An Sgor.
Co incidentally I had extra incentive to recall Let's Sgor as one of her owners happened to be my then college geography teacher who was married to the daughter of the proprietor of Masterton's Riddlesworth Stud who bred the filly and stood her sire.
Candle in the Win is another bargain basement purchase by the Logan posse at Karaka, costing them just $2,500 from the 2011 Select Sale. Dean and Donna Logan and their team of advisers which includes noted form analyst Gary Cossey clearly have a knack of finding bargains at Karaka, amongst them Group 1 winners Victory Smile (by Victory Dance) and Zabeat (by Rhythm), plus the ill fated Group 3 winner Ring of Fire (by Anziyan), for cumulatively around $30,000.
Still inclined to some greenness, with time, Candle In The Wind looks capable of joining an increasingly longer list of black-type winners by her sire and enhancing even further her trainers reputation for having an eye that even Warren Buffet would be proud to call his own.
